Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 19
Uddhava Meets the Gopīs: Bhramara-gītā and Kṛṣṇa’s Message of Separation
वयमृतमिव जिह्मव्याहृतं श्रद्दधाना: कुलिकरुतमिवाज्ञा: कृष्णवध्वो हरिण्य: । ददृशुरसकृदेतत्तन्नखस्पर्शतीव्र- स्मररुज उपमन्त्रिन् भण्यतामन्यवार्ता ॥ १९ ॥
vayam ṛtam iva jihma-vyāhṛtaṁ śraddadhānāḥ kulika-rutam ivājñāḥ kṛṣṇa-vadhvo hariṇyaḥ dadṛśur asakṛd etat tan-nakha-sparśa-tīvra smara-ruja upamantrin bhaṇyatām anya-vārtā
We trusted His crooked words as if they were true, like the foolish wives of the black deer who believe the cruel hunter’s song. Thus again and again we felt the sharp pain of desire stirred by the touch of His nails. O messenger, speak of something other than Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī categorizes this statement of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s as ājalpa, as defined by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:
FAQs
This verse shows the gopīs’ intense remembrance of Kṛṣṇa—so powerful that even recalling His touch becomes a sharp, transformative pain—revealing separation as a peak expression of pure bhakti.
Because discussing Kṛṣṇa’s words and past intimacy immediately intensified their love-sickness (smara-rujā). Overwhelmed, they asked the messenger to change the subject.
Channel longing for God into steady remembrance—japa, kīrtana, and hearing—so that even pain of separation becomes focused devotion rather than distraction.